Category: General

It’s hard to believe we’re into September already.Hopefully some cooler weather will follow on its heels.I’ve believe I’ve sweat enough this past month to make Lake Apopka overflow it’s banks!

Our District Deputy Grand Master will be making his official visit to our Lodge on Tuesday, September 4th.I’d like to invite all our members to attend Lodge that evening and show our support for Right Worshipful Ryan W. Kilmartin.I’ve been honored to serve as District Committeemen for FA-100 this year and it’s been a pleasure traveling with him throughout the District.Speaking of which, if anyone would like to purchase a Grand Master’s tie, I still have some available.THEY’RE ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!! (FOR A DONATION OF JUST $50 TO FA-100).It’s always important to read the fine print.☺

In case you didn’t notice, we made the front page of the Apopka Planter last month.The August 23rd issue included a photo of Brother John Christie and myself presenting a 60-year service pin to Bro. William R. McGuffin.We had a nice visit with Brother McGuffin at Wellsprings Assisted Living Facility and learned that he was a previous owner of the Apopka Planter/Apopka Chief.His son was there for the presentation and took the photo.

Our Lodge Property Committee has begun meeting regularly in order to formulate a plan of action to address Lodge beautification.First on the priority list is repairing any rotten wood on the Lodge exterior; second on the list is painting the exterior of the Lodge building and the annex.In light of the coming City Center project across the street, we need to take some steps to make our property more visually appealing.As you come up the hill into downtown Apopka, our Lodge is one of the first things you see.Unfortunately we’ve allowed it to be somewhat of an eyesore.It’s time we take pride in Orange Lodge and make it the “historical gem” of our community that it deserves to be.

As always, I’d like to invite any members who have not made it out to Lodge in a while to come check us out.Good things are happening at Orange Lodge 36 and I would encourage you to be a part of it.

I can’t believe we’re already into August. Hope everyone is having a good summer and staying cool. Safe travels if you’re doing vacations.

One of the common claims of Freemasonry is that we “Make Good Men Better.” One of the ways we accomplish that is through Masonic Education. The Grand Lodge of Florida offers a number of excellent programs by which Masons can expand their knowledge base and become good leaders, not only in Lodge but in the outer world as well. Last evening I attended a Masonic Education / Masonic Leadership Training session at Eola 207. The topic covered at some depth during M.E. portion of the meeting was “Mentoring”. This is an area where we have lots of room for improvement within the Fraternity. How often do we have brothers that have gone through their Entered Apprentice degree and then fall completely off the map? Effective mentoring encompasses much, much more than just delivering the required pre/post degree mentor’s lectures. We need to be maintaining frequent contact with these new brothers, answering any questions they might have, discussing the symbolism of the degree(s) to make sure they understand what they’ve experienced, giving them guidance on Masonic etiquette, reinforcing the fact that they are now part of a fraternity that cares about them and is committed to making them better men, as promised. Such on-going follow-up care will go a long way toward reversing the decline in membership the fraternity has been experiencing in recent years.

The MLT program consists of 15 modules, covering different topics that are critical to Lodge leadership. Last evening’s session covered Module 1 (Lodge Officers’ duties), Module 3 (Planning Your Year in the East) and Module 4 (Becoming Worshipful Master). These ME/MLT sessions are conducted quarterly at Eola 207, since it’s centrally located within our District. A number of brothers put in a lot of hard work to prepare and present these topics and it behooves us to take advantage of this learning opportunity.

District School of Instruction is focused on improving our ritual work. Our ritual is what sets us apart from other fraternities. It is conducted monthly by our Right Honorable District Instructor, W؞ Eric Romano. The location rotates around the District and is held at the Lodge that hosts Masters & Wardens that particular month. It will be held at our Lodge on Wednesday, November 28th. This past month District School focused on the ritual of balloting which involves every single member of the lodge. Per the Masonic Etiquette manual, the ballot is the most sacred thing in the Lodge after the Holy Bible. We should treat it as such by taking the time to learn the ritual associated with it, as we would degree ritual. We should take this duty seriously, as the ballot guards the portals of our fraternity.

Open Books is a chance for us to review all the ritual in written form. This is held monthly at Winter Park 239 from 8am until noon. It’s also an opportunity to test for a proficiency card. If you have a question about something in the Red Book cipher, Open Books is where you’ll get a definitive answer.

Finally, the Master Mason I, II and III exams and the Lodge Officers Training Course Modules I, II and III are additional educational programs offered by Grand Lodge to improve yourself as a Mason. The Master Mason exams can be done on-line thru Circumscribe or the answer sheets can be printed, completed and submitted to W؞ Michael Catello for grading. These are basically “open book” tests and can be done fairly quickly. Legislation has been approved at Grand Communication requiring the Junior and Senior Wardens to have completed these three exams before being installed in their chairs. Next year that requirement will most likely be extended to the Worshipful Master as well. The LOTC exams can be downloaded from the Grand Lodge website and must be submitted in written form to R؞W؞ Ed Sexton for grading. These are a bit more involved, but well worth the extra effort.

So, if you’re interested in getting the most out of what Masonry has to offer, I strongly recommend you take advantages of all these educational opportunities that are available to you. An educated Mason is a good Mason. You’ll learn a lot and your Lodge, as well as the fraternity as a whole, will be better for it.

I hope 2018 is treating my brethren well so far. It’s hard to believe we’re April already. At this rate, it’ll be time to start our Christmas shopping before we know it! It’s been a good year thus far in terms of membership. In January we initiated two new Entered Apprentices – David Jones and Simon McKenna – and in March we raised five Master Masons – John Christie, Guy Dalton, Rick Gursky, Bill Hudson and Jerry Ortkiese.

We’ve started monthly ritual rehearsals to improve our degree work and periodic sessions to work on the Lodge Officers Training Course (LOTC) to prepare our line officers and any who might be interested in going that route in the future. We’ve also had some interesting Masonic Education programs during our Stated Communications and have made charity work an important part of our mission, contributing to the Bahia Shrine transportation fund (for transporting injured children to the Shriners Hospitals) and to our Masonic Youth. If you haven’t been to Lodge in a while I invite you to come and be part of the team, so you can help us make 2018 a banner year for Orange Lodge 36.

Well, brethren, it has certainly been an inauspicious start to my year in the East. I was really looking forward to my first meeting as Worshipful Master, but the Flu had other plans; nonetheless, I understand our officers did just fine without me, which is the mark of a good officer line. I owe a debt of gratitude to our Brother Senior Warden who stepped right up to the plate to run the meeting and to R؞H؞ Van Pelt, who was kind enough to offer his gentle assistance. “Team George” saved the day! Also, I understand I missed out on a great Lodge birthday cake, courtesy of Jessica Higgins, wife of our Brother Junior Warden. She did a spectacular job, judging from the photo on Facebook. Very creative! Happy 162nd birthday to Orange Lodge 36! Hope I’m around to see what the next 162 years holds.

I have some interesting Masonic Education programs planned for the year and would invite our members to attend a Lodge meeting and check us out, especially if you haven’t made it out in a while. There is a lot of good camaraderie within the brotherhood and some good things are happening around your Lodge. Our meetings aren’t just business. In my experience the majority of brothers join the fraternity for three main reasons – the esoteric aspect, the focus on charitable work, and the brotherhood. Interestingly enough, no brother I’ve ever spoken to told me that he joined Masonry so he could attend business meetings. With that in mind, the Masonic Education programs planned for the year will address the esoteric aspect; we are involved in a number of charitable projects in our community and are always interested in doing more; and, the “band of brothers” currently attending Lodge meetings (and those new petitioners as well as EA/FC brothers who are already getting involved) are building a strong bond built on peace, harmony and brotherly love. I invite you to come on out and be a part of all the good things that are taking place at Orange Lodge 36!

Family Day was Sunday, April 30th at Orange Lodge 36. This event featured an open event to the general public that was filled with lots of food, fun, prizes, and even some pies to the face. Orange 36 was lucky enough to have Mayor Kilsheimer join us for the presentation of the “Orange Howler”. Orange 36 also gave away an American Flag that was flown over the Capitol in Washington, DC. Stay tuned for more upcoming events in the future from Orange 36.

We had a recent visit and a presentation from the DeMolay and Eastern Star groups at our last meeting, along with 17th District Deputy Grand Master Willy B! We love having visitors to our lodge. We have a very active 2017 planned – come be a part of something special at Orange 36!